First Year- Sorted
On the boats that are to bring the first years to the castle, Remus leans over the edge and dips his fingertips in the dark, dark water. It's much later now and the sky is just as dark and clear and the unobstructed almost-full moon casts a pleasant, weak light over everything.
The boys, all in the one boat together, are quieter now, just taking in their first experience that Hogwarts brings them. Remus watches Romulus’ eyes dart from place to place as they sail- at the other students in other boats, at the water Remus is gently disturbing, at the massive castle that slowly approaches.
Remus thinks more than he looks. He thinks about the hour-long rant that Sirius let him go on about Rome that he honestly had no clue about. He said he'd been to Rome before (to which Remus was infinitely jealous of) but that was about the extent of it.
Remus had to hold himself back from telling Sirius everything in one go, wanting to savour it and drag it out a little over the year. He also began to feel a little bad for hogging Sirius for most of the train ride to talk to him about things he probably didn't really care that much about. Sirius seems to be thinking too, looking mostly at his feet; Remus hopes he didn't bore him too much.
Peter and James are chattering away about houses. James seems pretty convinced he's going to be put in Gryffindor, not to imply that Remus doubts him because James Potter is the personification of the colour gold. He’s bright and radiant and loud in all the best sort of ways and he's just an amazing talker. There's this magic in him that'll draw him a response from anyone, probably no matter what the situation is. James’ personality is utterly and abysmally contagious and Remus doubts there's anything that can put out the 24 carat wildfire that keeps that boy riled up so high.
Sirius is the red to James' gold and Remus found it incredibly hard to believe that they'd only met that morning.
He's just as bright and just as chipper as James. He's flaunty and a little full of himself in Remus' humble opinion but he also thinks that that just makes him tick the ‘must be slightly arrogant’ box in the Gryffindor non-negotiable personality trait requirements- he might as well just skip the Sorting altogether and take his seat at Gryffindor already. James too.
Peter is seeming unsure about being sorted into Gryffindor but James keeps him optimistic.
Seeing Romulus and Peter talk for so long about their little drawings and the flowers that Peter had pressed between the pages of his notebook, Remus was considering Hufflepuff for the both of them. But then he noticed that brilliant, winning smile that Peter has plastered across his face all the time and the way he's also just so easily clicked with the boys. And Romulus isn't any different, matching Peter's energy to a tee who matches James' who matches Sirius'; the more Remus looks at the boys, the more he sees in them that he doesn't see in himself.
Who knows- maybe he'll be sorted apart from them all. There's a chance of it, isn't there? If Remus can spot where he's lacking already, the Sorting Hat is bound to be able to as well.
His family isn't as consistent in a specific house as James' is. He says there hasn't been a single Potter not in Gryffindor since the beginning of Hogwarts- Remus wishes his family was like that. Granted, he hasn't been told of any Slytherin Lupins, and Lyall was a Gryffindor which might, oh Remus doesn't know, help his chances and cancel out any deviancy from his extended family.
Nevertheless, Remus is giddy as the boats pull into a small harbour and students hop off and gather around a tall woman with emerald green robes and a pointed hat. Remus has to bite his laugh as he watches Romulus oogle at her all but drooling with his jaw on the floor.
He’d be a hypocrite to say he isn't oogling too as she leads him and his fellow first years into the castle, only just at the extravagances they walk past, not the lady professor.
The paintings look at the incoming students in wonder and curiosity. Remus has obviously seen moving and talking paintings and pictures before but not to this extent- there's more paintings than there is wall and some of the portraits even come through their neighbours’ frames to follow the equally as curious first years into the Great Hall.
And Christ is it great. Remus gazes at the enchanted sky and muses on what sparked that idea, at every student already sitting at the house tables and wonders about the stories behind them, and at the long table of staff at the far end of the Hall and ponders who teaches what subject and who Remus will like the least. He recognises a few of the men and women from Chocolate Frog cards; he actually collected another few from the sweets trolley on the train. It's an odd feeling seeing the headmaster of his new school in the flesh and knowing he's also got him tucked away in his back pocket.
They're led further up to stand near the front of the Hall and despite a trickle of anxiety, Remus is practically jogging in place as he waits for the sorting to begin. He looks to his newfound friends and they all mirror him. Except for Sirius.
The Sorting Hat is already sitting on a stool at the bottom of the short steps that lead up to the staff table. It’s quite ominous until the hat creases to present with eyes and a mouth and it begins to sing a little song. Remus would have laughed had he not been so confused. Students begin to be called up by the witch and it's really not as scary as Remus was expecting. Well, he doesn't quite know what he was expecting but this is a lot tamer than it. He definitely hadn't expected the hat to talk apart from calling out house placements but it talks nonetheless; a little stiff and grovely but it seems well spoken, reminding Remus of his dad just a little. The hat takes a few minutes with some students although Remus doesn't think that it's because of difficulty with the kids’ heads or anything, but with the sheer amount of talking that the Hat does- this reminds him of himself also.
Sirius is still so quiet. Back on the train and after Remus’ history lesson, Sirius had proceeded to practically bounce off the walls with James, but not even he can get him to talk now louder than just above a whisper and for longer than just a few words a sentence. Romulus told him to stop talking back on the train, Christ, why didn't he listen? Guilt runs through Remus’ blood for this and he makes a note to apologise later.
The first student to be sorted goes into Slytherin which seems to be a mighty achievement by the sound of their triumphed cheers.
Remus wishes he'd asked for the boys’ last names before this as he just keeps guessing and preparing himself for one of their names to be called next.
“Black, Sirius!”
Sirius, dejected and still fixated on his feet, slips through the first years and up to the Sorting Stool. Remus and Romulus crane their necks to watch their friend sit down and the Hat come down on his head.
From across the Hall, there are a few cheers and for a second, Remus wonders how James and Peter got over there so quickly. He looks to them confused because they are in fact still standing next to him, not on the opposite end of the Hall and are also in fact, not cheering. They actually both look a little pale.
Romulus takes the words out of Remus’ mouth.
“What is it?”
James leans forward. “Sirius Black, didn't you hear? He's a Black.”
Remus cranes his neck again. Sirius is still up there, also pale.
Pale. Not black. Remus isn't understanding.
“I don't understand.”
Clearly James has a better grasp of how things go on here which brings Remus's feeling of superiority right back down.
“No- Black!” James repeats hissingly. “Capital B. The Black family, rich and famous and dark.”
Oh.
“They're Death Eaters.” Says Peter. Now that is something Remus can understand. Lyall works as something against them in the Ministry, sometimes Remus overhears him and Hope talking about it.
“They're crazy.”
“We've been talking to a Slytherin this entire time.”
Remus furrows his brows and looks back at Sirius.
But he seemed so nice. He knows about the Romans now- he let Remus talk about them, Death Eaters wouldn't do that. He’s only eleven too; it's impossible for him to know enough magic to make it dark.
“Gryffindor!”
Relief. Then confusion. Then happiness because it's not true.
Remus is the only one who claps in that hall. He doesn't mean to make it sound so sarcastic, being surrounded by silence and all, because he didn't think he'd be met with that. He thinks it's worse when he stops clapping because of the glare he receives from the opposite side of the table because then it really is just silent.
There's about a minute of that and Remus can't help but feel absolutely awful for Sirius, having everyone stare at him like that because what else are they supposed to do? He can hear beratements from the hat until the witch pulls it off his head and then there's quiet footsteps that ring loud in the Hall.
Ashamedly, Remus stares just as everyone else does at Sirius as he takes his seat at the Gryffindor table. Sirius doesn't look back at anyone- even Remus-, he instead dips his head to his lap where he fiddles with his hands.
Remus pities the kid going up after that.
Sirius sits alone at the table for much too long. The next Gryffindors that are sorted take their own seats around Sirius; that's alright, they're only leaving room for his real friends although Remus isn't too keen on the idea of Sirius being by himself after that fiasco.
What was that fiasco? Everyone else sorted into Gryffindor was met with cheers and praise, the same with every other house. Sure, maybe Sirius' family might be a little strange but Remus didn't think it warranted that reaction, or lack thereof.
Remus hopes for James or Peter to be called sooner rather than later but the roll call gets down into the L’s and they're both still yet to be brought up.
“Lupin, Remus!” is called and Lupin, Remus really does run up. He feels like a racehorse, finally being let loose to make a break for it. Romulus pats his back before he's out of reach, before he's shuffling through the crowd and plopping himself down on that knobbly little stool.
All eyes are on him and he's changed his mind- it's very scary. Was it necessary to do it in front of the entire school? Would it not give students peace of mind by doing it in a quiet room behind closed doors and without the critical gazes of hundreds of people.
Stop. Be brave, Remus. Gryffindors are brave.
He banishes all nervousness from his head just before the witch places the hat and it's oddly heavy on his head. Remus supposes that it does have a mouth so there must be a voice box somewhere up there. Lungs, maybe too. There'd have to be a brain or else it couldn't think of the words to say. Couldn't think full stop, really. Maybe there were sensors or little antennae- Christ, Romulus was really rubbing off on him with his insect/plant malarkey- so that it could look around and gather whatever information from him it needed. It could read his thoughts then, couldn't it?
“Yes, I can read your mind, Mr. Lupin.”
He turns a furious red as there's a few snickers in the crowd. He thinks there's less people in his hometown than there are in this room.
“Now that's a bad word and you know it.”
He looks at Romulus who is laughing at him behind his fist. He looks at James and Peter who, despite also grinning up at him wildly, whisper to each other and Remus can't help but assume it's to do with Sirius who still sits passively and alone.
Please just let it be Gryffindor so Remus can be the first to talk to him, even just for a minute. From the way James and Peter were talking about him to the twins, Remus can't be certain that they'll be nothing but as lovely as they were back on the train before last names came into play.
Why can't people just-
“And another one, my!”
Whatever house it is- even if it has to be Slytherin- and whoever else it's with, just please let it be in the same place that this stupid hat puts Romulus in.
“I'll put you in…”
Remus really, really hates this.
“Gryffindor!”
The round of applause is fast to come and Remus finally breathes. He thinks up a frenzied thank you to the Hat and almost runs off with it still on his head but the witch plucks it off his head before he scurries over to the cheering Gryffindor table. Now all he has to do is hope that Romulus has the same fortune.
Remus slides right next to Sirius on the bench but he doesn't look up. The skin around his thumbnail is red and picked-at so Remus nudges his shoulder into Sirius' to get him to stop.
“What was all that about?” He asks under his breath so that only Sirius is able to hear.
“Nothing.
“Lupin, Romulus!” is at the stool now and Remus wonders if anyone has gotten the reference their names make. He also is practically clawing at the table in anticipation. He lets his eyes go dry in anticipation also, should the worst come to worst and he needs to instantly burst out into unquenchable tears.
They're twins: they'll have the same brain, same result because they have the same everything. They have the same eyes that lock into each other when the hat lands on Romulus' and roars “Gryffindor!” after all of five seconds.
Relief hits Remus again, harder this time because it's Romulus skipping over to the Gryffindor table.
Remus doesn't care anymore so he jumps over to his brother and tackles him into the tightest hug he can muster, not knowing if he's ever felt this good; it's like fireworks rooting from his stomach and exploding in his chest because they're actually going to be together forever.
They sway in place for a few seconds, shrouded by applause, then laughter when they each shove the other off for daring to do such a thing.
Another few students go by and Peter Pettigrew is next. The Hat sits in him for close to five minutes and after two, Peter looks more bored than nervous.
In the end he's a Gryffindor too and he sits on the other side of the table to the already-sorted others and they make faces and mouth things at James until he goes up next after two more kids. There's a fraction of a second of deliberation this time, the hat barely touching his spiked, messy hair, and he's strutting up to the Gryffindors as proud as anything. Remus almost violently claps because not only does this mean that something aligned just right for all five of them to be together, but this also means there isn't anyone else that Remus cares about that is yet to be sorted so he can finally stop paying attention.
It takes fifteen more minutes for the Sorting process to end and for food to appear- good, because Remus is absolutely starved and he's already missing hot, homemade meals. None of this looks nearly as good as what his parents make though.
Beside him and without warning, Sirius breaks down into a heap of sobs. There's an awkward pause among the other boys, Romulus even freezing midway though scooping up a portion of mash.
Just as awkwardly, Remus puts his hand on one of Sirius' heaving shoulders and gives him a little pat. He glances at the boys as if to ask for help but all they can do is shrug at him. This is hardly fair, Remus thinks.
With his face in his hands, Sirius weeps. “They're actually going to-” He hiccups. “Going to kill me!”
Had Peter not brought up Death Eaters, Remus probably would have scoffed at that.
“Literally?” He asks, his mind going to the worst places and his hand stopping its gentle patting.
Romulus kicks him hard under the table and Remus elbows his side. He doesn't mean to pry so much but the others look a little too unwilling- too scared- to do it for him. Remus would understand if Sirius had spend the entire train ride doing whatever Death Eaters do but no, he was- is just normal.
“Probably. Oh shit. Oh fuck. Oh, they're actually going to kill me. This is- oh God. They're all… I can’t be here.” He decides, looking up, wiping his face and standing out of his seat.
There's a prefect on him in seconds that holds him by his arms to stop him from running up to the staff table. Sirius writhes around to get out of his grip, still crying, still looking utterly petrified.
They're going to literally kill him? They meaning his family, probably. His family is going to kill. Him. For being in Gryffindor? Maybe they're like James' family who always stick to one house or something.
Remus turns in his seat. “Sirius?” He tries but Sirius definitely does not hear him, still fighting with the prefect.
“Shut up, Remus.” Romulus hisses at him and he listens this time. He turns back and begins to pile food onto his plate, trying to ignore the looks that the entire table is giving them.
“Sit down, Black!” Yells the prefect sharply. Sirius whimpers. “Sit down, eat, you can throw your tantrum later.”
Sirius stops in his tracks and the prefect takes his shoulders and spins him around to face the others again. He watches how James and Peter immediately snap their eyes back down to their food when Sirius faces them again, making it fairly obvious that they- and everyone else once again- caught the entire thing.
Slowly, Sirius sits back down and all is quiet. He puts his face back behind his hands but his shoulders don't heave like they did before. Remus tries to put his arm back over him but Sirius jumps at the touch so Remus retracts and reluctantly leaves him be.
Well, he also swaps his full plate (he didn't think it'd be proper to eat during all of that) with Sirius' empty one in case all the good food is gone by the time he decides to look back up. That only takes a minute or two and he whispers a “thank you” and a “sorry” and finally begins his meal.
Remus re-fills his plate and digs in, starving because his lunch consisted of too much chocolate and risky Berties Botts.
He doesn't think he's ever seen this much food. It's a little overwhelming to look at because as much as he wants to, Remus isn't going to be able to try everything.
James leads them into another conversation about Quidditch and if they'll let him play on the team being as young as he is. There's flying lessons meant to take place some time in the next few days according to him- Remus doesn't think he's heard of anything worse than mandatory Quidditch.
Remus absolutely does not want to play and he made this very clear a month ago to his parents in Diagon Alley when Lyall pressed his face into the window of the Quidditch shop and gawked at the fancy broom in the display. Hope had to drag him away from it after a few minutes of that carry on.
Romulus and Peter also don't want to play; Sirius hasn't spoken up at all so Remus assumes he'd rather sit out too.
James next talks about his parents: his father that runs their local Quidditch club that has its own pitch and everything and his mother who's a doctor at St. Mungo's hospital. He says she almost took the school nurse position when it opened up a few years ago but she didn't want to leave James' dad all alone when he started going to school too. He says they kiss a lot.
The conversation naturally comes back to Quidditch and James describes how he and his parents go up to the pitch a couple of times a week together to teach Mrs. Potter how to play and for Mr. Potter to show off his tricks. James is confident he'll “win” the flying lessons.
It takes Remus much too long to realise how invested he is in a conversation all about something he doesn't want to do, but that's just James and his magic for you.
Dinner ends and the first years are led by prefects to the Gryffindor common room. The one that yelled at Sirius doesn't accompany them which Remus is glad about- he didn't seem very nice.
Lyall told them a while ago that the staircases would move and for whatever reason, Remus didn't believe him, or at least didn't think they'd move like this. One minute, the five of them are walking undisturbed and the next, the stairs are coming out from under Remus' feet and he has to jump up onto the next landing to not plummet down.
He laughs, watching the ground as if to tell that not to move either and spins to laugh about it with Romulus. He does not look as happy from what Remus can see as he's at the top of the swerving stairs, looking frightened back at Remus. Sirius and Peter make it with Remus to the landing initially, while Romulus and James are brought with the other half of Gryffindor to the other end of the floor.
James is laughing too, looking over the bannister and at where the stairs and the new patch of landing meet, caught in awe. In contrast, Romulus looks terrified and he takes a quick, large step off of the stairs, seeming still a little freaked out once reunited with Remus after no less than two minutes.
Hogwash is the password for the common room. You have to say it to the painting of the fat lady and you aren't allowed to share it with other houses. Remus knows he won't be able to remember it, especially since the password changes every two weeks. He'll have to write it down somewhere.
Prefects tell them what to do, how to behave, that their bags will be delivered in a few minutes and they're let off to the dorms.
There's uncertainty going around the place as nobody has gotten the chance to make many friends just yet. Remus feels bad for them because they'll have to actually try to make friends, unlike him. Finding these three was suspiciously effortless and he hadn't realised what good friends he was making until after the fact. He can't say that Lyall will be as delighted with the boys as Remus is because with them, there's bound to be letters home within a week.
They find themselves a vacant dorm and their trunks do in fact just show up after a few minutes. Sirius leaves to the bathroom once everything is calmed down, James follows Sirius, Peter follows James, and Remus and Romulus go to whisper on Remus' bed.
“Should we tell dad about Sirius?” Romulus asks.
“No Slytherins. No looking at them, no talking to them unless it's to fight-” “Lyall Lupin!” “They're trouble, you hear?”
Sirius isn't a Slytherin, not technically. No, not at all. The Hat can pick around your thoughts, can't it? It can tell what house you're meant to and not meant to be in- Sirius just must not have hit the Slytherin criteria. He didn't seem like trouble either way.
“What about him?” Remus asks back.
“His family's apparently a bit mad and he's supposed to be in Slytherin. Dad wouldn't want us hanging out with him.”
“Apparently, supposed. We don't know if it's true and plus, Sirius is cool, it doesn't matter if it is."
Romulus purses his lips for a second but nods anyway- Remus is brilliant at being right.
There's a moment of silence, much to his annoyance, so Remus shuffles off the pillow he's sitting on and rams it full-force into Romulus' face.
Being on the other end of the bed, Romulus doesn't have anything to fight back with so he grabs hold of the pillow on Remus' second swing and dives forward, pushing it against Remus' face and then into the mattress. For a few seconds, Remus knows he won't be able to breathe in a bit but he doesn't mind dying like this; at least it'd be funny.
This isn't something that Remus isn't accustomed to so he reaches up blindly for Romulus' hair and gives it a right old tug to bring him down so that he can roll them both over and smother Romulus instead.
The door opens and the others walk in just as Remus gets in a good position to properly suffocate his brother. He releases his firm push on the pillow (only because he has to) and Romulus tears it from his face. He sees the boys staring at them like they're crazy before he can give his brother the same treatment again.
Remus gets up first and goes to kneel down by his trunk. He takes out parchment, ink and a quill and sits at the desk by his bed, looking back to Romulus who has quickly replaced Remus' spot on the bed with Peter and is back to showing him drawings from his notebook and the photographs of their house littered between the pages.
James has gotten Sirius to start talking again which Remus is happy and not at all surprised about. They've opted to start unpacking their bags at each other by throwing clothes and books and squirming about. There's a period of pushing and pulling one another's trunks, then a five minute standoff with their wands drawn at each other like they know any spells- it's all over the place.
In his letter to his parents, Remus describes them with the one simple phrase, “they're just like me and Romulus.”